Spectators and volunteers are welcome to help county officials and staff release 400 northern pike into Thompson Lake in Howell Monday.

The public is invited to meet at the Thompson Lake Howell City Park public boat launch off of Roosevelt Street at 9 a.m. , where the Livingston County Drain Commissioner's office will be releasing the fish.

Spectators are welcome. Waders will be available for people who wish to participate.

"We have to let the lake down" every couple years "as an opportunity for people to work on their sea walls, and we do weed control before winter," Mark Hathaway, a county drain and soil erosion inspector, said.

Fish are in danger of getting killed off when the level of the lake is dropped three feet, which causes the water to recede about 30 or 40 feet back from the shoreline, Hathaway said.